Despite his earlier proclamation, left tackle Bryant McKinnie isn't "gone" from the Baltimore Ravens and will remain with the team this season.

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McKinnie said in a text to the Baltimore Sun that he has agreed to a restructured contract and will not be released by the Ravens, as he has earlier said would be the case.

"Yes I'm signing now," he told the newspaper in a text. The Ravens had asked McKinnie to take a pay cut from his $3.2 million base salary for this season. The left tackle, however, told the newspaper that "I can still make it with incentives."

Earlier Tuesday, McKinnie wrote on Twitter: "Decision is made! I'm gone!" And when asked by the Baltimore Sun whether he was no longer on the team, he replied in a text message "yes," the newspaper reported.

The 6-foot-8, 354-pound McKinnie had an average 2011 season and told team officials in March that he would get in better shape this year. A rocky offseason continued when the team kept him off the practice field for mandatory minicamp in June so he could focus on conditioning.

The Ravens picked up his $500,000 roster bonus in March after a face-to-face meeting in which he agreed to get in better shape.

McKinnie starred with Minnesota from 2002-2010 before the Vikings gave up on their former No. 1 draft pick last summer. McKinnie joined the Ravens on Aug. 24 of last year and started every game at left tackle -- considered by many to be the most important position on the offensive line.

With McKinnie helping open holes for Ray Rice and protecting quarterback Joe Flacco, Baltimore's offense ranked 10th in the NFL in rushing, amassed more than 3,500 yards passing and produced the top offensive game in team history in terms of yardage -- 533 in a rout of the St. Louis Rams.